The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

402 THE MIRACLE OF REPARATION
factors upon which responsibility rests. They could
not hereafter say Jesus was a man who sided with
His disciples, right or wrong, nor could they point
to a cruel sword-cut to impugn His goodness. If
this wounded man had been left to go through the
world with a mutilation received in presence of the
Redeemer, in the very hour of His consecration to
death, in some circles at least, that might have seemed
sufficient reason for the rejection of Jesus and His
claims. This story of violence, told in the judgmenthall,
might have made Pilate through the coming
centuries a witness hostile towards Jesus Christ.
From the high priest himself down to the high
priest's slave, every man who comes into contact
with Jesus must be held accountable for his view
of this great and holy character, and accountability
rests upon what Jesus Himself does, and not upon what
Peter does. Peter is often over-ruled. And to-day
Jesus still works towards the same end. Malchus,
with his half-severed ear, is a spectacle known to
most of us, and wherever he appears, there is a
Simon Peter lurking in the background. Many of
our neighbours may see such dismal specimens of
the Christian religion, that we are ready to say
they can scarcely be held responsible if they reject
its claims. Science, or at least the professor of it,
steps out to depreciate religion, and treats the Church
with ignominy, and down comes the clumsy sword of
an incompetent theologian, and one wonders how
cultivated doubters can ever look with respect and
good feeling upon Christianity again. Politicians
seek to bind the Church and to exploit its resources.
The democracy assails it for keeping aloof from the